Are we already forgetting the horrid events of that day? Are we already relegating it to only being worthy of recognition every five years? Neither the L.A. Times nor the Chicago Tribune had any front-page stories commemorating the anniversary.
The Washington Post -- which only had a single ad in remembrance (a full-page tribute from Lockheed-Martin) -- did have this article above the fold on its cover which was titled "9/11 a Distant Memory for Teens: Eight years later, the Sept 11 attacks have become relegated to history books for a generation that's too young to remember."
The bad news: It contains an anecdote about a class that groans when they are handed the nine-page packet their teacher is using to study the events of that infamous day.
"This is going to take us forever," complained a boy in the back.
The good news: It also tells the story of Anthony Gardner who lost his brother, Harvey, that day. When he realized that his children -- who never knew their uncle -- needed to be taught to remember the events of this day, he started the Sept. 11 Education Trust, which has already conducted 100 hours of video interviews with survivors, firefighters, politicians and relatives of the victims.
The videos are the core of a curriculum which Gardner intends to "remind everyone that 9/11 was a collective experience, affecting everyone, everywhere."
When I ask my middle children, aged 9-14 what they remember, mostly they recall me crying and not really understanding what was happening that day. They don't remember the youngest of them, just 16 months old, pointing at the tv screen. As yet another replay of one of the towers falling was running, she pointed and said, "Uh oh! Uh oh!" Indeed.
But we are teaching them to never forget what happened, to remain vigilant, and do what they can to defend freedom from those who would tear it down.
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